AWAY WITH THE FAIRIES
‘Away With the Fairies’ is a photography series by Meg exploring queerness and a return to nature. Queer people are often driven away from countryside and pastoral areas to the city for fear of being the ‘only gay in the village’ and this loss of connection to nature has recently manifested in the cottagecore aesthetic, a romanticization of pastoral and agricultural life.
For marginalised people, Cottagecore is a form of gentle escapism into a world in which you are self-sufficient and existing away from homophobia, transphobia, and the male gaze, all while “carving out a space for themselves in imagery traditionally taken up by rich, straight white people” (Ellis, 2020). In ‘Cruising Utopia’ , we are told we “can glimpse the worlds proposed and promised by queerness in the realm of the aesthetic” (Munoz, 2009) and Cottagecore is the perfect example of this.
Away With Fairies has been featured in Publications like Bricks Magazine. Below is a sample of some of the photos and visual art in the collection.
Ammi Majestic (2022)
Image Description: A white woman with long brown hair sits in a field of white flowers. She is wearing a crown and a pink dress. She looks off to the side smiling.
Pictured: Lydia Brickland
Like Christopher Robin (2022)
Image Description: A man with long dark frizzy hair, wearing a white shirt and white shorts, lounges in a tree. The branches surround him as he looks directly into the camera.
Pictured: Kaidyn Hinds
Flourishing (2021)
“Having lived in a place pretty evenly split with town and countryside almost my whole life, the difference between the two has always been quite clear to me. The countryside isn’t here to judge you, it’s just here to exist, like you. The bees aren’t gonna misgender you or sneer at your life choices. You don’t have to worry about what the people coming around the corner will say about you because there’s no one else for miles, letting you enjoy relaxing in the sun and nature to your fullest extent. It’s somewhere to finally take a deep breath and let down your guard.”
Image Description: In this black and white photograph, a mixed race chinese-british genderfluid person lies in the grass. Their hair is full of flourishing and blooming viburnum flowers.
Pictured: Ashley Goh
Bridgerton Vibes (2022)
Image Description: A white thin androgynous person with short dark hair stands surrounded by purple wisteria.
Pictured: Gareth Moriarty
Fuck It I'm A Flower (2021)
Image Description: A white thin man with long blonde hair, a beard and a white shirt sniffs a bouquet of ammi majus flowers.
Pictured: Lewis Wade
Nature is Experiencing You (2022)
“Being in the countryside it just feels like nature is experiencing you rather than you experiencing nature.”
This photo is of Catriona Judt (they/them) who grew up in a small village in Derbyshire.
Image Description: A thin white androgynous person with red hair stands in a field of white flowers. They are smiling and looking just above the camera while holding a trans flag.
Pictured: Catriona Judt
“The idea that the countryside is not a place for queer people seems to persist, partly because we see such a vibrant culture in major metropolitan areas, but also because the history of the countryside has largely been projected through a heterosexual lens.”
- Tom Woodhouse for the Museum of English Rural Life (2021)
Trans Joy (2022)
Image Description: A white female with long brown hair stands with one arm crossed over her purple dress. In the background are many purple flowers. She is smiling looking away from the camera.
Pictured: Faye Wheeler
Royalty (2022)
Image Description: An androgynous person wearing a white top, yellow skirt and crown leans against a log. They are adjusting their crown as they look away from the camera.
Pictured: Raisa Daya
Front Page Fantasy (2022)
Image Description: A white female wearing a crown, a white bra, white shorts, and a shear purple dress lies on the ground. Surrounding her are bluebells.
Pictured: Lydia Brickland
People pictured include: Lydia Brickland, Raisa Daya, Ashley Goh, Kaidyn Hinds, Chloe Hodgson, Catriona Judt, Meg McGrady,
Gareth Moriarty, Lewis Wade, and Faye Wheeler.
If you are a member of LGBTQ+ community who grew up or now lives in the UK countryside who would be intrested in being photographed email Meg at megmcgrady@live.co.uk